Coyotehunter.net

Fallguy,
If you go to the FHA website they have a fur handling manual on there that you can down load and they show a picture of how they want you to do the ears.

lyonch

Are you talking the ND fur handling manual? I just looked through it and never found any ear info. Send me a link if you have this info please. Thanks.

Here is the manual. It is a picture that they show. They use a screwdriver between the head and the ear and use that like a shoulder plunge that blain eddy uses in his video. Its the same concept. It is on page 11 of the pdf.

http://www.furharvesters.com/PDF/pelthandling.pdf

lyonch

Wow that is a great manual. Thanks for the info!

Looks to me as if they leave the cartilage from the ear right on the carcass, much like you strip the tail bone when skinning. I currently have 4 skinned out yotes with the ear cartilage still in the ear.

I wonder if it is possible to remove it still?

I will have to try that screw driver trick next time I skin.

If you were to read the section where they talk about how to put up wolves i think there is an area where they take the cartlidge out of the ear after the animal is skun. I have noticed some differences between NAFA guidlines and FHA guidlines. The article is good and full of information for guys starting out. Im sure if you take your time and anchor the fur to something and use a pair of pliers and a good sharp knife you could work the cartlidge right out.

I've got a Q? Way do you want to remove the ear cartlidge??? is it something the buyers want now days?I worked at a fur house for a few years and was the guy to put up all the fox and mink (thousands and thousands)and in the past when gradeing furs I never paid attention to the ears at all? If my memory is correct the buyers want the cartlidge left in all the small game as to remove it when its tanned so the opening will be fresh and not dried shut so it will tan better!

Talk to me

you can split the ears with just your fingers and a razor blade. it does not take long at all to do. I do not think it is at all necessary. I have had coyotes sold both ways to 5 different buys and never had any one notice the difference.

Fallguy wrote:lyonch

Wow that is a great manual. Thanks for the info!

Looks to me as if they leave the cartilage from the ear right on the carcass, much like you strip the tail bone when skinning. I currently have 4 skinned out yotes with the ear cartilage still in the ear.

I wonder if it is possible to remove it still?

I will have to try that screw driver trick next time I skin.

you can rehydrate the hide and should have no problem cutting it out.

Tbush wrote:I've got a Q? Way do you want to remove the ear cartlidge??? is it something the buyers want now days?I worked at a fur house for a few years and was the guy to put up all the fox and mink (thousands and thousands)and in the past when gradeing furs I never paid attention to the ears at all? If my memory is correct the buyers want the cartlidge left in all the small game as to remove it when its tanned so the opening will be fresh and not dried shut so it will tan better!

Talk to me

Not sure man, maybe spoilage around the ear butts. Waste of time. know one is going to pay a dime more for it.

Time is money, leave the cartiliage in, and move on

Tbush wrote:I've got a Q? Way do you want to remove the ear cartlidge??? is it something the buyers want now days?I worked at a fur house for a few years and was the guy to put up all the fox and mink (thousands and thousands)and in the past when gradeing furs I never paid attention to the ears at all? If my memory is correct the buyers want the cartlidge left in all the small game as to remove it when its tanned so the opening will be fresh and not dried shut so it will tan better!

Talk to me

Last February I attended the NDFHTA Winter Meet in Bismarck. Rick Tfischer (spelling), NAFA rep for ND, gave a demo on fur handling. He had some pretty eye opening remarks on fur handling. Two things still stick in my mind from his presentation. One was, he showed us pictures of the ONE guy who grades all of the fur that comes up to the auction. This guy grades thousands of hides each day. Rick showed us tips and tricks on how to "sneak one past" this guys eyes while sewing.

Another thing he showed was how to take the cartilage FULLY out of the ear. I wish I had brought my camera with to this so I could have gotten pictures of it. Anyway, he said the reason this was important is that after the hides are brought in they go into a HUGE tumbler. The probelm he said is that the hard pointy ears in that tumbler will catch on hides and rip them. If yours comes out with a rip in it, it's considered damaged. I think I have that all straight. If anyone else was at that presentation and can back up or contradict what I said, please go right ahead. Maybe there is more to the story.

pin the ears foward and I don't think you will have a problem with the ears tearing in the tumbler

My take on a tumbler is that it turns extremely slow and lets the furs drop more than let them spin. the only way i can see the fur tearing is if it wasn't properly flesh behind the ears and the hide turned rotten there. I agree 100% with levi when he said just pin the ears forward. When you pin them forward tight to the fur and they harden up i dont see how they can get caught in the tumbler then.

The only time I can recall hides being torn in a tumbler was over stretching on the belly and fleshing to deep but mostly on rats and fox,

Levi and lyonch

So you guys are pinning the ear forward WITHOUT removing all of the cartilage out of them? Interesting. Are you guys getting any spoilage by pinning them forward with the cartilage still in? How tight are you pinning them and are you getting enough air movement between the pinned down front of the ear and the eye area underneath?

I am asking this because I know on my past hides when I leave the cartilage in and split the ear they remain very springy and like to pop upright all the time. But I haven't tried pinning them.

If you are doing this, how far up are you splitting the ears?

Or am I just misunderstanding your posts? I think the whole idea of removing the cartilage is so you CAN pin them forward.